Nayla Rizk

Nayla Rizk currently consults with start-ups in Silicon Valley and New York City. Previously she was a Senior Director at Spencer Stuart, the leading global executive search firm, where she was a core member of the firm’s North American Technology, Communications & Media and Board Practices, based in Silicon Valley. Earlier, Nayla was director of strategic planning and reengineering at Network Equipment Technologies. She served as an engagement manager with McKinsey & Company in New York and, before that, began her career as an operations research analyst for Chevron U.S.A. in San Francisco.

Nayla has been active with, and led, a number of non-profit organizations. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an advisory board member of the Harvard Business School California Research Centre. She is also a board member of Education for Employment. Formerly, she was a trustee of the World Affairs Council of Northern California; board member of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association, board chair of the Harvard Business School Club of Northern California (over 20 years on the board), member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women, and board member of TechWadi.

Nayla received a B.S. degree in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She is fluent in French and Arabic and speaks conversational Spanish.